Aloft Alpha

This is a "development" version of Aloft (the nameplate addon). Please refer to the main page for that addon for a comprehensive description.

This is an ALPHA release. That means it has not had a substantial amount of testing under all circumstances. By installing this version, you are basically agreeing to help test . Please report any/all bugs with this release in the comments section of this WoWInterface addon page.

This version of Aloft is functionally identical to Aloft-5.2.8-2574.

This version of Aloft is updated to work with WoW "6", aka "Warlords of Draenor", currently in beta test. All modules have been enabled, LUA errors fixed (mainly to do with obsolete spell IDs), and all the basics seem to work on the WoW 6.X PTR. There were not many changes required.

I now have Beta access, so am incorporating that into my testing.

This version of Aloft will probably not work on current live realms... there is at least one new spell that doesn't exist there yet (Storm Elemental Totem), plus several that have been removed.

Short answer: fundamentally correct... though the issue of placing graphics on the nameplate is not the problem (that is "easy"). I would need a way to to find out if a condition like that applied in the first place (hypothetically, a "UnitHasQuestAvailable(unitid)" or "UnitHasFlightPathAvailable(unitid)" API function).

Unfortunately, the closest the API seems to come is support for identifying the presence of available quests while in active dialog with an NPC (their "gossip" functionality). Not relevant for this particular purpose.

So, to summarize: Aloft would need either a graphical widget to interrogate (which, for instance, is done for things like raid target assignments: Aloft looks for the existence/visibility of an icon on the nameplate, queries the icon widget to determine which artwork is displayed, and reverse engineers the corresponding raid target ID), or some API function on a unitid (i.e. "mouseover") that can be used to answer the required question (i.e. "do you have any quests for me?").

Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, Blizzard doesn't supply either of these options.

Boo. Oh well. Aloft is great as is anyway, I'm sure if I mess around with the config I could make it even better.

So with that said, I take it there is nothing in the API to say put an icon in the nameplate that would show the quest marker or flightpath marker etc. ?

Short answer: fundamentally correct... though the issue of placing graphics on the nameplate is not the problem (that is "easy"). I would need a way to to find out if a condition like that applied in the first place (hypothetically, a "UnitHasQuestAvailable(unitid)" or "UnitHasFlightPathAvailable(unitid)" API function).

Unfortunately, the closest the API seems to come is support for identifying the presence of available quests while in active dialog with an NPC (their "gossip" functionality). Not relevant for this particular purpose.

So, to summarize: Aloft would need either a graphical widget to interrogate (which, for instance, is done for things like raid target assignments: Aloft looks for the existence/visibility of an icon on the nameplate, queries the icon widget to determine which artwork is displayed, and reverse engineers the corresponding raid target ID), or some API function on a unitid (i.e. "mouseover") that can be used to answer the required question (i.e. "do you have any quests for me?").

Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, Blizzard doesn't supply either of these options.

Finally, as far as I have ever been able to tell, things like quest markers are not UI graphical "widgets", and therefore they cannot be accessed by addons. They are something the WoW client manages entirely "under the covers" (like the 3d models for objects in the game world, etc). Otherwise an addon like Aloft could "hijack" them and allow the user to control placement/appearance/etc (which could be useful).

Hmm, looks like I executed yet another brain dump... hope all of that makes sense and is helpful.

So with that said, I take it there is nothing in the API to say put an icon in the nameplate that would show the quest marker or flightpath marker etc. ?

Is there a way to hide only the health bars of standard npcs, critters and such, without completely disabling the nameplate modifications for that unit type?

I can't even see the quest marker on npcs with the bar loaded. But i want to retain the modified unit name, with my fonts/coloring/sizing, just without the healthbar cluttering up my screen when in town.

No, unfortunately, there is no way to disable specific elements of nameplates selectively. I have thought about doing things like this, and it should be feasible in theory, but in practice it would be a huge amount of work. Beyond that, the health bar is a fundamental piece of each nameplate; I have experimented and found that one can make it extremely small, but that disappearing it entirely has consequences, particularly to mouseover behavior (there is an invisible area surrounding the healthbar that is sensitive to the mouse, the size/placement of which seems to be hardcoded within the WoW client... a tiny or nonexistent health bar breaks mouseover and click targeting).

Having said all of that, you can disable entire nameplates, based on unit type, using the "Aloft Visibility" module. The "Visibility" module operates at a finer granularity than the Blizzard standard keybindings, and effectively makes all the individual nameplates of a particular unit type invisible, via the choice of a couple of different mechanisms. However, note that is is somewhat imperfect: the nameplates are still "there" as UI "widgets", will affect the placement/spacing of other nameplates, and can often cause odd mouseover/clicking behavior.

Finally, as far as I have ever been able to tell, things like quest markers are not UI graphical "widgets", and therefore they cannot be accessed by addons. They are something the WoW client manages entirely "under the covers" (like the 3d models for objects in the game world, etc). Otherwise an addon like Aloft could "hijack" them and allow the user to control placement/appearance/etc (which could be useful).

Hmm, looks like I executed yet another brain dump... hope all of that makes sense and is helpful.

Is there a way to hide only the health bars of standard npcs, critters and such, without completely disabling the nameplate modifications for that unit type?

I can't even see the quest marker on npcs with the bar loaded. But i want to retain the modified unit name, with my fonts/coloring/sizing, just without the healthbar cluttering up my screen when in town.

thanks for the report. i saw a few of these early on while fixing for WoW 6.X, then they went away. i will work on a fix, make sure it functions under normal circumstances even if i am not able to reproduce the error. will try to do some testing, and hopefully release in a couple of days.

Perfect! Once you have it up, I'll try again and see if it happens. Keep up the good work!

thanks for the report. i saw a few of these early on while fixing for WoW 6.X, then they went away. i will work on a fix, make sure it functions under normal circumstances even if i am not able to reproduce the error. will try to do some testing, and hopefully release in a couple of days.

I was wondering since i didnt see it in the FAQ section on (beta) is there a way to turn on the "Reciently damaged only"? box in name plate glow?

Ahh, yes, good catch. The option was programmed to be dependent on functionality that was incorporated into "Name Text", and then deleted from the "build" (i.e. code that is now no longer even loaded). Hence the option fell through the cracks, has probably been "bugged" and unavailable, possibly for years .

Anyway, I will fix this, then at least take a look at it, then try to release... maybe tonight, but probably tommorrow.

__________________
“I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” — Bilbo Baggins, from his speech on his eleventy-first birthday.

Really looking forward to what you have for us. What timeframe are we looking at for a live version? Can we just use the old one by enabling out of date addons?

i have been short of time the last few days. my WoW patch process just finished, and there is a problem with the cast bar/cast warning module(s) that i want to try to fix, now that i can double-box and reproduce in a controlled setting. hopefully, i will be able to get to that shortly (probably tommorrow).

in the meantime, yes, the current "alpha" version (Aloft-5.0.1-2418) works pretty well for me on the live realms. i haven't seen any evidence of weird last-minute changes on Blizzard's part, and it got some decent testing on Beta. Blizzard's changes appear to be fairly minor, wrt Aloft (API function name changes, mainly).

sorry for the delay. it won't be too much longer (a day or two, i hope).

for those who have the cast warning module enabled, go ahead and set it to "override" for the moment. that seems to work around the artifacts i am currently seeing.

Really looking forward to what you have for us. What timeframe are we looking at for a live version? Can we just use the old one by enabling out of date addons?

i have been short of time the last few days. my WoW patch process just finished, and there is a problem with the cast bar/cast warning module(s) that i want to try to fix, now that i can double-box and reproduce in a controlled setting. hopefully, i will be able to get to that shortly (probably tommorrow).

in the meantime, yes, this current version (Aloft-5.0.1-2418) works pretty well for me on the live realms. i haven't seen any evidence of weird last-minute changes on Blizzard's part, and it got some decent testing on Beta.

sorry for the delay. it won't be too much longer (a day or two, i hope).

for those who have the cast warning module enabled, go ahead and set it to "override" for the moment. that seems to work around the artifacts i am currently seeing.

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